Articles such as earthquake or tornado protection pods or protection structures are known.
Such a structure is known, for instance, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,132 entitled “Structural Protective Shelter” and granted on Sep. 2, 1997 which describes a tubular steel structure designed to be used around a bed, chair or desk. The structure is comparatively large and not easily assembled or moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,508 describes a high strength case with openings to allow a person to enter and remain within for some time, however the case is comparatively large and an integral whole and again is not easily moved.
Such structures fail to solve all the known problems of earthquake protection pods since they do not readily allow placement where an office worker can seek shelter and are not amenable to assembly on site.
Therefore a need exists for a solution to the problem of ease of access, ease of placement and ease of construction.
The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems which offers advantages over the prior art or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.